New amp?

Im looking to buy a new amp because im sick of the crap one I have right now. I was looking at a 100 watt Ibanez amp. Currently I'm not in a band, but I might get into one down the road. I was wondering if 100 watts is good enough for me to play at home, and if it comes to it be able to play with others. My current amp is only 15 watts, and I have been able to keep up with my friend on drums, so I would guess 100 would be good enough with a bass and another guitarist(or not) but I need someone to help me with this.

100 watts is freakin loud! but i wouldn't get an ibanez, they are horrible! I'd try out one of these. Line6 spider 2 112 combo http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Amps?sku=482244

Btw, whats your price range?

My Ampeg VT-22 collects dust because I can't turn it up anywhere. A 2x12" combo doesn't look dangerous, but this thing can rearrange my neighbor's furniture!

Go shopping for a better quality of sound. Don't get excited about how many Watts a particular amp is rated for. If you use the search button near the top of the thread, you'll find out some interesting things. Like you would have to dump [u]10 times[/u] as much power into a speaker in order to double the apparent loudness of the sound. Concentrate on getting something that sounds good.

So an Ibanez doesnt have good sound? But since Blues_man brought up the Line 6 I think that is more what i am in to. I was looking at the Ibanez because I play more of a hard rock metal sound, but Im all over the board I play almost anything. I did play the one I was looking to buy and thought it had pretty decent sound, and it could kick out the power. I just noticed too that my local kickass guitar shop does carry the Line 6 amp Blues_man brought up, and never noticed it, so I'll have to check it out, but it could be something that I'm interested in because it is less expensive than the Ibanez, but not as powerful. 75 should still cover though right?

Just because I dont want to start a new thread, Im also looking to buy a new guitar to suit my all purpose playing while leaning more towards a harder rock. My current guitar is a Fender Mex fat strat, and people tell me that it can be used for anything. I was just thinking of upgrading to a better quality guitar, I need to know what kind of guitars can be used like fenders, with a slightly better quailty than a mex strat. Some brands i had in mind were ESP, PRS, maybe gibson or epiphone....would any of these be a good choice...if so which ones and what should I get over what. My shop has a crap load to choose from, but sadly no ESP and they arent a gibson dealer this year.

Please take a look around thier site and give me suggestions on what kinds of guitars i should look at http://davesguitar.com/....keep in mind im not willing to spend more than $1,000 mayb a little more because im not looking for a super good guitar just yet.

75 watts is still a LOT of power, you'd be suprised. 1000 bucks should buy you a freakin nice guitar, I am sure these guys can steer you in the right direction as far as a good guitar goes.

For solid state amps, going above 50W will probably be too much for home use. My 30W line 6 spider II can keep up with a band for a band practice, though just barely. if it's a loud show you'll want a bigger amp. but the 30W is great for home use though.

now if it's tubes, then 30W will probably be plenty for a band. and since tube amps actually respond when you turn the volume knob, it could work for home use too.

for amps, I've got a 40W peavey XXX and it's great! it's really versatile too, it plays good hard rock and metal, and the clean channel is shimmering. the "rhythm" channel inbetween is good for your "distorted but not quite through the roof" type sounds. it'd be a good buy. they cost about $950 new. I got mine on sale for $500. that may be a bit out of your price range though... I saw the peavey classic 30 on that website though.. why not give that a try? and get an overdrive pedal to use alongside it's normal gain to get high gain sounds.

for guitars, I've got a gibson sg special faded and couldn't be happier! I love the humbucker sound, for cleans or for metal, I just never liked single coils. that's just me though. try some stuff out, see what you like!

Howdy,

Few months back these guys recommended to me the same Line 6 theyve recommended to you. I bought it, and at this point in time, I dont think Id trade it for most amps for a few reasons.

A) Im in college and constantly going back and forth between here and home on weekends and holidays and such. My only back up amp is a little 10w Marshall practice amp, and you cant really jam with people on that. The Line 6 is small and light enough where I can just toss it in the front seat of the truck and bring it home for the weekend without ever straining myself.

B) This thing cranks. All the volume youre probably gonna need for the time being, unless youre gonna be playing huge gigs.

C) Its pretty much idiot proof, and Idk about you, but in my case I need that. Theyve got presets right on there that you can work with and then tweak so you can get em to sound exactly the way you want. Youve got a bunch of different effects and you can save em on 4 different channels. Its all real straight forward in the manual.

D) At $300, I dont owe the parents any money.

Im not really sure if you can get any better of an amp for that value. I love it. Highly recommended.

May want to give Hartke's Piggyback set up. It's a tube amp, 60 watt, 4x8 I think. I picked one up and am very happy with it.

If your budgets under a thousand, id get one of these. peavey valvekings, i've heard somegood reviews about them. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Amps?sku=481443